We
might not realize it, but a lot of the skincare products we use are significant
contributors to harmful ingredients, toxins, and chemicals. Majority of commercially-produced beauty products are
laced with preservations, artificial colors, fragrances. These can be very
harmful in the long run.

Not only can it harm our skin, but the way we use and
dispose of those products also can harm our environment as well. With time we
have been trying to reduce chemicals and toxins in our products as much as we
can. Nowadays people are more aware of the fact, they read labels, research,
and look for alternatives.

The good news is, nature has always had everything we
need. So, let’s talk about the best natural skin care we can get.

Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera is the
most commonly known and used gifts from nature. From beauty to health, it helps
with a lot of things. It has antibacterial properties which is why it works
well with our skin issues. It helps fight
inflammation, redness, and itching. It is also used to treat burns, sunburns,
and heal wounds. It is easy to take care of, so, having an aloe plant in your
home is a good idea.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is traditionally known
by everyone to be beneficial in more than one ways. You can use it on your hair
as well as skin. It helps to cleanse, moisturize, and heal. Coconut oil has
antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Many people eat a tsp of
coconut oil to benefit from it from inside as well, it helps to increase immune
function, and the healthy fats help nourish your gut.

Almond Oil

Almond oil has
anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, and antiseptic properties. Until
recently, I only knew almond oil to be used for hair, it smelled great.
Recently, I have learned of its benefits for the skin. Many essential oils have
almond oil in them. It helps treat skin rashes, acne, and dryness.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple Cider Vinegar
is known to help kill pathogens and provide antifungal properties. It is an
inexpensive and easily accessible natural skin care product that is very
popular with the general public. It helps clear skin problems caused by gut
issues and also helps stop acne. Like coconut oil, apple cider vinegar helps
when consumed internally as well. It boosts liver function and is also known to
balance bacteria in the gut.

Raw Honey

Honey is
available in almost every home. This yummy product is a natural source of
nutrients,

enzymes,
vitamins, and skin-boosting acids. Honey helps in reducing breakouts and is an
excellent moisturizing agent for the skin. It contains antiseptic qualities
which help with healing wounds, fighting allergies or rashes, and also helps to
reduce scars.

Sea Salt

The sea salt
contains anti-inflammatory properties. It helps soothe skin and calm breakouts.
It also helps remove dead skin cells and irritation, which is why it is used in
a lot of body and lip scrubs. It balances oil production on the skin and boosts
the skin to retain its moisture levels.

Shea Butter

Shea butter is one of the popular ingredients used in skin care products. Even if you have not used anything with shea butter, you are sure to have heard of it. It is very helpful and moisturizing for dry skin, it helps reduce flaking, redness or peeling. It also is inexpensive. I have a moisturizer that has shea butter as one of its main ingredients, it works and smells amazing.

Natural
products do not always have to be expensive, you just have to look around,
research a bit to know what works best for your issues and watch nature do
wonders.

Now for a majority of people especially the night owls, snacking onto some nighttime nosh can be one their most favourite things to do. But one must be very careful while choosing what they eat at night. Although it is always considered wise not to indulge into late night dining if you make sure that you are not committing one of those mistakes that we are going to mention here below –

Ice cream

Ice creams are on the top priority for people who like snack onto something at night. It is one of the most pleasant and relishing of them all. But you should consider changing your thoughts about it. Ice creams are generally loaded with fat, also all of that sugar that you intake may pump up your energy right before you were going to sleep. Now the thing is these things will send confusing messages to your body clock thus disturbing your entire system. So it is highly recommended to stay away from ice creams at night.

Celery

Now often people things that since celery is considered
to be healthy, it is totally fine to consume them at night. But people forget to pay attention to the
fact that celery is a natural diuretic thus it elevates the urination rate.
This will tend to make you pee more than which is usual. So the best thing to
do is to avoid celery at night to have a sound uninterrupted sleep.

Pizza

This is considered to be the all time favourite of
people belonging to any generation. And in recent times, having pizza at night
as a snack has become the new ‘cool’. Now pizza isn’t at all a light meal. So
it is quite understood that your tummy has to do a lot of work to digest it
while all your other body part are resting. All of this may result in an
imbalance in your body system. Also the layer of tomato sauce that makes your
pizza so savory will only increase the level of acidity in your body. Infact
the high fat meats and cheese may give you heartburn and that surely is not
something that you would want to have as a wakeup call. So wake up before it’s
too late and ditch those high fat pizzas at night.

Pasta

One of the most favourite dishes among the youth is
pasts and people simply love to have it at night. Now pasts have straight
carbohydrate. But when you go to sleep right after eating it, all of those turn
into fat. And to top it all the extras cheese, oil, tomato sauces and the heavy
creams that you add to it, makes things worse.
It plays with your blood sugar level, thus results into delayed sleep
and will keep your awake at night.

Conclusion

Thus no matter how appetizing these may look to you at night, do not ever give into it. Having a good health and a fit body is one of the most important assets that you can have so embrace it and avoid easting the above mentioned foods at night.

Prenatal testing has come a long way in the past 100 years. Women are now able to have ultrasounds and other forms of testing that allow them to know exactly how many babies they’re having, what the sex of the baby is, and other potential health risks to the fetus. However, it’s common to hear stories about women who gave birth to twins despite an ultrasound showing a single baby, or about women who gave birth to a boy after being told she was having a girl. These surprises are reminders that there are instances in which modern prenatal technologies can fail to accurately capture a pregnancy. So, what does this mean for relatively new developments in non-invasive prenatal testing? How reliable are they?

What is Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing

Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is a simple blood test that can be performed as early as nine weeks into a pregnancy. The results of this test give the parents valuable information about the risks that their child could be born with a genetic disorder. These tests use DNA from the fetus found circulating in the mother’s blood to check for markers indicating a variety of genetic conditions like cystic fibrosis, Down syndrome, and open neural tube defects.

Many doctors are now recommending this kind of testing to their patients during initial prenatal visits because of its demonstrated success at detecting risks. However, one very important thing to note about non-invasive prenatal testing is that it is not definitive proof that a child will be born with a particular genetic condition. Other more-invasive forms of diagnostic testing are necessary to know for certain whether a baby has a particular genetic disorder, but these can also come with an increased risk to the unborn child.

What if My Results Are Positive, Negative, or Inconclusive?

Receiving a positive result from a non-invasive prenatal screening test can indicate that your child is at risk of being born with a genetic disorder. Your doctor will receive the results and share them with you. If you were to receive a positive or inconclusive result from an NIPT, they will likely refer you to a genetic counselor to discuss additional testing options and further diagnostic testing. A negative result from an NIPT likely means that your child is at low risk of being born with a genetic condition, and that you can continue with your pregnancy as indicated by your doctor.

Who Can I Speak to For More Information?

If you have any questions about NIPT, your results, or other kinds of DNA testing, it’s best to speak with a genetic counselor. They are able to provide guidance and support for anyone considering NIPT and those who have already begun the process.

There are some people whose skin always tends to look
clean and simply flawless. Now although some people who are just born with such
a perfect skin, there is still a series of good habits that help them in
maintaining the glow and flawlessness of their skin.

Now is a list of 6 daily habits that will help you in
having a better looking skin that you must follow!

Drinking enough water

Drinking enough of water will help you stay hydrated.
And the benefits of it will reflect on your skin. By hydrating you skin you can
keep it moisturized for a longer time a make it less vulnerable to the drying.
If your skin is dehydrated, it make your skin look dull, flaky, uneven skin
tone, and will be more prone to dirt and oil seeping right through your pores.
But if you drink enough water all of these problems vanish away.

Workout on a regular basis

This is the best way to naturally detoxify your skin. By working out you sweat a lot. This way you pores open up and release the toxins and cleanse your skin. Also do not forget to wash your face once you are done with your workout. A shower will do wonders but is not necessary. Also it not only brings a glow on your skin but also helps in improving your body metabolism.

Maintain a habit of healthy eating

In this fast forward life, where everyone is one the
go, somewhere amidst all the hustling people don’t realizes the importance of healthy
eating and keep snacking on to unhealthy junk foods. This may adversely affect
your skin your skin may look dull and faded.

Regularly cleanse your skin

This great way to keep your
skin healthy. When you keep your skin
clean on a regular basis and follow a proper routine for morning or night both
(depending on the availability of your time) will be quite beneficial to your
skin. But be careful that while cleaning your skin you so not strip your skin
out from its natural oil. Having excess oil in your skin may case breakout.
Look out or cleansers that are gentles and not too harsh on your skin.

Keep those things clean that come in your regular
contact of your skin

Thinks like make up product,
your own mobile phones etc are constant in touch with your skin. Therefore it
is necessary to regularly clean these things so that the dusts from theses do
not come in contact of your skin.

Take time to relax

Stress is one of the biggest threats to your skin. It
may cause blemishes and breakouts. Also it may bring dullness to your skin. The
best way to avoid it is to relax your mind, body and soul by various methods
like mediation; yoga etc. exercise is again a good way to relax you. This way
your skin will look healthier and will have its inner glow.

Conclusion

Thus by adopting theses simple measures you can keep
your skin dirt free so that it looks healthy and glowing.

Cosmetics are the ultimate love for most of the women and you can’t deny
it. It adds that extra edge to your whole look and oomph up your whole
confidence to a whole new level. They help in beatifying once appearance and
help you look more presentable and attractive. Be it your sleepy face or a
puffy, by applying the right kind of cosmetic you can look presentable in no
time and rock that party or your office looks. But what is more beneficial
about these cosmetics is that they don’t just make you look more beautiful, but
also help in protecting your skin. There
are several reasons why your skin can get damaged and cosmetics have got them covered
it all. They help you in preventing
wrinkles, dirt from the outside, fight against pimples and acne and also help protect
it from the ultraviolet rays. Thus making your skin look younger and glowing.

Now since cosmetics come with so many benefits, one must be aware of the
fact that they don’t last forever. They
all come with expiration dates and must be thrown away as per the instruction
that come written on your cosmetics.
Even though some cosmetics may last longer than the other, but one or
the other day, you have to get rid of them.

How long can the cosmetics are
kept?

This is a very important question to be asked. Now the answer of this
question lies more on the brand of the product that is being used which comes
with their own set of instructions. But there are a few products like the
primer, eye shadow, foundation, blush etc used be used for maximum two years
from the day they are in use. Then the lipsticks can be used for one year and
not more than that.

Although this question is more answerable depending on the brand of the cosmetics that is being used. Most beauty products come with labels on which their expiration dates are mentioned that is for how long they will last. And for those products which are related to the eye makeup like the liquid eyeliner or mascara should be replaced after every three month.

Why should you throw away
your cosmetics after a certain period of time?

The fact that all of these cosmetics are applied on the face, extra care
should be takes because the skin of your face is the most sensitive. And also
if anything goes wrong with your face, it automatically becomes a highlight,
because usually face is the first things that people notice. Now all cosmetics
come with an expiry date. When its use is extended further, it may cause
irritation, rashes, acne, pimples redness and many other problems. In general
it is harmful to the skin and so it should not be overused.

When to know that it is
finally time to throw away your cosmetics?

Now below are some of the signs mentioned observing which you can know
that it is time to throw always your cosmetics. Do notice them-

There has been a wired smell that you have observed coming out form your cosmetics

The color has started changing form what it originally used to be.

The texture of the cosmetic has started to fade as well. It gives different look every time you apply it on your face.

Conclusion

Thus our should be very careful while suing cosmetics and don’t hesitate
to throw away your cosmetics if you observe any of these signs.

In today’s date stress for people have become a common thing they deal
with every one or the other day. No matter how much you try you can never
escape it. You incur stress due to your working schedules, family issues or it
may be anything. Now although stress is unavoidable
there still are certain ways in which you can get a curb over it and relax you
mind and souls. And exercises are the best way to do that!

So here is a list of some of the exercises that have known to be
powerful stress relievers and isn’t difficult at all to do them. Its long term
benefits are even more beneficial and you should definitely try these out

Yoga

Yoga has been
known to people for its magical remedies to people from ancient times. Originated in India hundreds of thousands of
years ago, this form of exercise is considered to cure so many ailment stresses
being one of them. The postures that you
form during yoga are known to give strength training and enhance your flexibility
and resilience. It helps in relieving
physical tensions in your body and increases blood circulation and reduces
blood pressure. It also increases your
mental focus and balances your mental health thus relieving your stress. And the best part is that you don’t ever to
go anywhere for it you can do at your home or a park where ever your may find
comfortable.

Tai Chi

This is yet another stress relieving exercise known for its wondrous benefits. Belonging to the ancient Chinese cultures, this form of martial art s know to link your physical movements with your breath, hence it is also referred to as ‘mediation in motion’. It helps you in focusing at your present, increases flexibility and boosts your energy level by multiple times. It also helps you cater balance and helps you in having a restful sleep. Thus it helps in relieving the mental stress.

Qigong

Along with the Chinese herbs, Qigong is considered of the best Chinese medicines when it comes stress busters. This is an exercise in which you have to focus on your gentle body movements which should be in complete harmony with your breath. This helps in having a restful sleep, improve digestive system, increased energy level and inculcates a feeling of serenity within you.

Circuit Training

This kind of an exercise is a good replacement for the cardio with the
weight training moves. This workout is filled with high intensity and within 30
mintues or sometimes even less than that, you can have benefits equivalent to
those which you have perform for longer duration. It pumps up the endorphin level in your body
which leads to a better mood and thus this exercise is a powerful stress
reliever.

Pilates

This kind of an exercise has been known to people for the ample benefits it provides one of it being the stress reliever. By doing Pilates you get to focus on the strengthening on your muscles which helps in synchronizing in the physical harmony with your body. This helps you reduce your back and neck pain and your body feels much relieved and energetic. This in turn leads to a reduction in stress and a good mood.

Thus this exercise has proved quite beneficial to people time and again
when it comes to relieving stress. And if you are someone who is dealing with
the same problem you should definitely try them out!

A healthier looking skin adds charm to your personality and also enhances your confidence. While drinking enough water and doing yoga are quite a good way to get a healthier looking skin, facial exercises is something that should also be taken seriously to get a good skin even more quickly. Time and again the below mentioned facial exercises have proved their benefits and you should definitely try them out to look even more charming and attractive.

Below are some
of the exercise best known for their benefits. And you should try them out!

The Lower Jowl Lifter Routine

First of all gently take your right hand on your
collarbones while wrapping up the bottom lips on the teeth of the bottom side.
Then slowly by using your facial muscle tilt back the head just by a few
inches while pulling the corners of your
mouth in the backward direction. Now hold in this for a few seconds. Then
release your head form this position and keep your eyes looking in the upward
direction. And do the same towards your left side. Do it in 4 sets where 5 towards the right and
five in the left side.

Double Chin Slide

Start this exercise by gently placing your palms under
your chin while your mouth is closed. Then slowly try to stretch your lower jaw
for as much as you can. Then while sliding along your double chin area and the jaw
line exert some pressure with your palm
while the side of your face will be ending at the temples area. Repeat this exercise 10 times five times on
the left side and five times on the right side.

Jawbone Restorer

For this first take both of your thumbs at the very tip
of the chin by placing them side by side
and let your fingers rest below your ears. After that create a resistance
by pushing your chin into your thumbs while sliding them with a medium pressure
along the jawbone area. This should end just below each ear. Repeat this
exercise 10 times on one goes.

The smile smoother

This exercise is good for cheek lines and improving
sagging skin. For this first make an O shape with the mouth by hiding your
teeth with your lips. Then widely smile while still hiding your teeth. And
repeat this six times in a row. After that place one of your index fingers on
your chin while holding your smile shape. Then start moving your jaws in up and
down position. Then relax and repeat it two more times.

The V shape

This exercise will improve your drooping eyelids, baggy eyes
and puffiness. First take both your
middle fingers and press them at your eyebrow’s inner corners. Then with the
help of your index fingers, at the outer corners of your eyebrows apply
pressure. Now start looking towards the ceiling
while raising your lower eyelids in the upward direction. Now relax. Repeat
this for six times and then finish this exercise by squeezing your eyes which
initially should be tightly shut for 10 seconds straight.

Thus all you have to do is repeat these exercises three to five times a week and do them for 15
minutes. And soon enough you will see its miracle benefits on your skin!

Fitbit charge 3 launched in 2018 is an upgrade to the existing Charge 2
model that was launched in 2016. These are fitness trackers that can be worn
all day every day to better gauge your health.

Charge 2 Features

Heart Rate Monitor- The device measures your heart rate at all times
when you are wearing it, be it normally, walking, intense workout or any other
time. Modes like normal, calorie burning, fat burning etc can be set

Sleep Monitor- It monitors sleep and recognises the various sleep stages
giving you a better look into how well you sleep

Breathing Sessions- The device goes through with guided breathing
exercises to relax you whenever you are agitated

Steps taken- It can track the number of steps that you have taken
throughout the day and resets at midnight. The daily goal is set at 10000 steps
and can be changed

Calories burned- Since pretty much everything is being tracked, the
calories burned in walking, exercises etc can also be tracked

Distance covered- The device is connected with GPS via phone and can
tell how much distance you have travelled

Floors climbed- It can detect when you climb stairs and tell you how
many floors you’ve moved

Exercise tracker- The device recognises several forms of exercises and
the time duration they’re done for thus. Making the calorie counter more
effective

Notifications- Once calibrated with phone, all your notifications can
appear on the device itself

What’s New in Charge 3

Waterproofing- The new model is waterproof and recognises swimming as an
exercise

Bigger Display- A bigger display makes for a better experience when it
comes to analysing tracker data

Brighter Display- Brightness has also increased the analysing experience

Flexible Band- The band is better suited to be worn on the wrist as
compared to the previous design making it more comfortable to users

Lighter- The device is overall lighter in appearance and weight

What’s Missing

Colour- The band are still monochrome and could have better variants

GPS- There is still no inbuilt GPS in the device which would help
tremendously

Charger- Only the proprietary charger can be used to charge the device

If you already have the Charge 2, and really want to swim and track it in your exercise routine, the Charge 3 is suggested. Moreover, the better screen display is sure to help you read data more clearly without much difficulty as the bigger screen has seen to the problem of letter huddling together in previous versions making them nearly incomprehensible.

Introduction

Improving your health requires will and
determination but it shouldn’t be that difficult. There are a lot of simple
things you can do that does not require massive effort, money and time. It is
all about substitutions and what you can incorporate in your everyday living.
So let’s start.

Stay Hydrated

Our body mostly consist of water so we need
to make sure we drink enough water throughout the day. This is one tip mostly forgotten yet
very simple to do.

Keep a bottled water near your bed so that
when you wake up, you can immediately drink it and replace what was lost during
your sleep time. Though idle when sleeping, it makes the blood thicker. So to
relieve the pressure, drink water immediately after waking up.

It is also advisable to drink a
glass of water before each meal. This will make you feel full and tends for you
to eat lesser.

Hit The Sack Early

Lack of sleep is the same as dehydration It
doesn’t give you obvious symptoms but you will feel the toll
on your body. Although there are also obvious ones like not being able to
focus, getting tired easily or being cranky.

Try to sleep an hour early. Turn off all gadgets or TV to help go straight to sleep. Getting enough sleep will help you give better performance and productivity in your daily tasks. You can also take naps at noon or on the afternoon, after class or work, to help you regain your energy.

You also have to consider the quality of
your sleep and not just the length of it. Try not to eat 2-3 hours before
bedtime. You should also avoid too much water intake or anything with caffeine.

You cal also use a sleep mask or ear plugs
in case your neighbors are too loud.

Practice Stretching

Normally you would spend 8 hours sitting at
your office desk or during in-between classes. You should take a break from
sitting by standing or stretching every 30-minutes. Our body is not designed
for sitting constantly.

This will also prevent over burn
from what you’re doing and will refresh your sharpness as well.

Train With Giant Sets

This next tip would be for already
gym-goers. There is nothing wrong nor is it unhealthy to have big guns but you
can work out by doing giant sets.

By doing this, you will keep your heart
rate racing throughout the whole giant set which is

excellent for losing body fats, endurance,
and most importantly for overall health than a regular set-rest-set-rest
scheme.

For beginners, you can start by having a
15-minute walk or practicing deep-breathing and meditation.

Measure Your Body

To know what’s best for you, you must know
first what your measurements are. Write down your numbers–step on the scale or
measure your waist line one day at a time until you see your desired results.

But then again, weighing scales and tape measures will not give you your total body composition. You can try something like a DEXA scan. This will help you know the exact amount of

body fat you carry, your bone density,
muscle mass, and other useful information that will give you a better idea what
you need to change.

You may also visit a doctor to undergo
blood tests and gain some advise of what food to eat that would best fit your
diet.

Conclusion
These tips are truly very easy and there is no
excuse for you not try them. One step at a time that you may include in your
daily routine until you have everything on the go. This is your road to a
healthier you.

Nobody
likes to look oneself in the mirror and feel bad about it. Everybody dreams
about a fit and toned up body and this is not bad even! There is a bit more to
it, the part when such body requires hard work and the dedication!

There
is no doubt, short cuts are available as well, in the fitness industry to help
one achieve, what they long for: slim, fit and a toned body! The drinking of
warm water, burning of fat by eating some gums or even wrapping polythene
around one, makes a lot of difference, but the need is to know now, are they
safe as well?

To make it clear, what fat burner are, it would be good to make the stamen, they simply help one burn fat by increasing the metabolism of the body and also the task of proving the fat as fuel to the body more efficiently also adds up to the fact that these really achieve some wonder results for the people! Below are enlisted some of the fat burners which are no doubt, trusted by many people across the world:

CaffeineWith the emerging trend of tea, came the name of green tea, no doubt this one definitely helps in burning fat more, by making the metabolism go up by 2 %. People should not be undertaking more of the caffeine as this can get them under impact of the side effects of the green tea. The best way to find out a way is to drink the normal strong tea and under proper routine.

Green teaThere are no as such side effects listed for the green tea. Rather reports say that Caffeine taken in a combination along with caffeine can make you have strikingly fat burning up to 65% more than the situation when anyone was taken alone! People could be easily suggested to have at least 3-5 cups of green tea while keeping them engaged and making their way out to a slim, toned and a fit body!

Protein PowderThis one is really helpful in keeping one, fit and toned up. The reason this helps to work a lot is due to the fullness feeling hormones being released by the body after consuming proteins, which actually keeps one from gulping more inside! The protein should not be a supplement for one’s diet routine but it should definitely be skipping one of the meal form the diet of an individual, which could help in gaining the best results.

Soluble FiberNo matter what is metabolism or the digestion along with excretion is not happening properly in your body, then the dream of being a fit person could be a bit difficult to be achieved! For a clean stomach, would definitely help one have a perfect tummy fit even on that tight dress! There are various kinds of fiber diet supplements available in the market, but the need is to take the dosage carefully and without getting into too much of it on a daily basis.